The Case for Kerby and Chloe

If you can (or wish), buy a copy of the March edition of International Gymnast magazine. Or, for free, go to http://www.intlgymnast.com/ and click on "IG Digital" to read a digital version of it.

In the edition, there is an Australian supplement(!) featuring a Spring 2008 Preview of the Aussie squad and their assignments. Great to see, and it includes photos of Georgia Bonora, Shona Morgan and Dasha Joura. They interview national coach Peggy Liddick about what happened in Stuttgart (no real reason is given for the team's total meltdown and apparently one won't ever be discovered) and then she briefly profiles each of the squad members.

And here's where I take issue. Instead of saying "(Name) is a good (apparatus) worker and capable of scoring (x score). She did very well at (y competition) and we hope to put (z skill or combination) in her routine/repertoire soon", she goes into brief detail about each of the girls. Which is not altogether a bad thing, except that in parts it sounded like a stern teacher's report card about a student's class behaviour. Two comments in particular struck me:

On Chloe Sims: "Chloe is a little behind with a recent setback... I expect her to be in the running again soon." Apparently she has also had "disciplinary problems" and is now learning to understand "what the rules are".

On Kerby Purcell: "She has a decent vault but right now I don't think she's really in the running for the Olympic team".

With regard to Kerby...

I think this is a little unfair. Kerby's vault has been the talk of the squad for several months now. If she's keen on taking a one-event specialist like Olivia Vivian (uneven bars) then she may as well consider the girl with a stellar Yurchenko double. After all, she's not too shabby on beam either, apparently. I think it's poor form to say outright that she's got no chance. It's not a good thing to have at the back of her mind going into Nationals and trials. There is speculation that Peggy's doing the old trick she pulled with Monette Russo in 2005 (claiming in a press conference she'd have NO chance of medalling in the Worlds all-around, only to have her go on and historically do just that). So with that in mind, Kerby might not be such a long shot. We just don't know. Don't put brutal honesty past a head coach.

On a different (more positive) note, congratulations to Kerby who won the Moonee Valley Leader newspaper 'Junior Sports Star of the Year' Award a week ago!

Now for Chloe.

Yes, it's well been established that her performance consistency and her execution (particularly leg work) are often questionable; to the point where one is left holding their breath as she mounts the apparatus because there is the chance she could miscalculate a move and then lose the plot completely. It's happened more than once. She'll often demonstrate much better work on day 2 of a competition than day 1 as opposed to competent performances from the outset. But despite her apparent flaws, I don't think she's a total lost cause and I really don't think she's neglecting the needs of the team. Worlds '07 was her first chance at an international team event since Commonwealth Games in March '06 so she hasn't had a great deal of opportunity to experience a pressure-cooker team competition environment. I mean, perhaps she does feel that people expect little from her? Maybe she in particular goes into competitions with a defeatist cloud over her head? Maybe that's why we see her looking glum so often? With her it seems to be less about smiling after 'hitting' a routine but more about smiling for 'not stuffing it up'. Which it shouldn't be for a gymnast of this level. My opinion of Chloe and my expectations in her performances really took an upswing at Nationals last year. She came third all-around and medalled on bars, going on to top China's best on bars in the apparatus challenge. But then came Stuttgart and she succumbed to nerves again (Peggy didn't put her in the beam lineup, but who knows if she ever would have hit it then when it counted). I don't know why and I probably never will.

Chloe DOES have some fantastic skills. Her beam routine features both a piked and a tucked punch front somersault, an elegant Y-scale pirouette, an onodi and a double front dismount. Tsukahara 1.5 twist on vault. On floor she has both a double arabian *and* a running double front. Quite dramatic music too, but her choreography in '06 was - I admit - more striking and controlled than her erratic nerve-filled moves in '07. She also has an uneven bars A-score of about 6.7, one of the highest in the squad. As Liz Chetkovich said during the Commonwealth Games, Chloe has a lot of power and when she puts it in the right direction, she's awesome. Quite frankly, if she could hit the hell out of her beam and bars routines over the next five months (vault doesn't seem to be too much of a problem), she could get a lineup spot for the Olympic team without a problem. But she, more than anybody in the squad right now, needs to prove that she wants to be there for them. She's the one who it will mean the most to. She needs to combine good routines with a positive state of mind and sincere desire to perform. I can't help but think she'll benefit from a sit-down with University of Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan and be made to repeat "I can hit!" with resounding vocal force. How very Dead Poets-y.

If I had the ways and means I'd send a little letter to Ms Sims saying, "there are still fans out there who have big hopes for you! You can do it, we know you can! Don't be so hard on yourself and don't take anybody's crap!" and who knows, some Remember the Titans music might come wafting out of the envelope in the process...

Anyway, this relates to the supplement because I personally feel that letting the public know about her disciplinary problems (whatever they may have been) is not an appropriate or effective way to get an athlete to toe the line. She always seems to get criticised before she gets praised. Chloe will have so much pressure on her going into Nationals and trials, she doesn't need these comments on her mind as well (same for Kerby). Chloe needs to be appraised more and criticised less (or at least, more contructively). Because these kind of comments shape how she is viewed by an audience and their expectations of her, particularly an international audience. Her family and fans don't need to read constant criticism about her in the newspapers or other publications (they DO keep scrapbooks y'know). She doesn't need to be thought of as an unpredictable headcase, and I would hate for commentators to play up this angle when she competes. Chloe has very admirable qualities and some daring skills, and the fact that she's kept going after so many knocks is, I certainly hope, testament to the fact that she really, really wants to deliver in Beijing.

For her team, her coaches, her fans and most importantly herself.

(and here endeth this week's episode of Tooched Boy en Airn-jell)

:)